Splintered Dreams

"For What it's Worth"

Chapter 24

He woke just before daybreak, and felt...different.

No nightmares, he realized.

No haunting images of mad scientists and swirling green.

No blood-caked desert.

No broken hearts.

Just sleep.

It was...refreshing.

He went to move and felt the warm weight of a body draped over him and confusion gave way to realization. She'd nestled into him in her sleep, he noticed, but still had her arm between them—her fist curled over her heart.

As if she was guarding it; protecting it. Locking it.

He wanted to lift that hand on her chest, unclench those fingers. He wanted to unlock her fist—unlock her heart...as she'd done his.

His mouth curved up on that thought, even as another warmed him further. She looked like an angel.

She would loathe that comparison, he knew, but it didn't change the fact that Tifa held an ethereal beauty that had nothing to do with her physical state and everything to do with the light of her soul.

Zack leaned up on his arm, to better study her, breathed in her sleep warm scent. Long, dark hair spilled across the pillow in a tangled cascade that he couldn't help but touch. He trailed his hand through it, watched the strands sift through his fingers.

He was a man that been brought up with the teachings of a strong family, in the value of home, and the power of love. His parents had instilled that in him from birth. Commitment, honesty, connection—and he was ashamed to say that he hadn't fully understood it—not really...until now.

He got it now.

That blind devotion, that unspoken connection and loyalty. He knew why Tifa always knew whenever he needed her—he just wasn't sure she knew. Even if she did, she probably wouldn't acknowledge it. He knew that also, with just as much certainty.

But despite his eagerness—a trait he'd been teased about all through SOLDIER—Zack could be patient. He would be patient for her. He'd persuade her, he'd coax her, and eventually...when she was ready... he'd tell her... he loved her.

I love you... he didn't say it out loud. Knew she wasn't ready for it, but he felt it. Gods, he felt it.

She shifted against him, her nose nuzzling beneath his chin and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to stave off the reaction that little movement caused. She inhaled, sighed and relaxed once more. Apparently she wasn't ready to start the day just yet.

That was okay, he thought, brushing his hand across her cheek. Neither was he.

Morning, however, would not be staved off by his sheer willpower, and sooner than he'd have liked, the sounds of feet on floorboards and voices in conversations drifted beneath the door and disturbed the warm tranquility of the room.

In the circle of his arms, Tifa stirred. "...Zack..."

"Hey." He brushed the tip of her nose with a soft kiss, grinned at her instant blush.

"...Time is it?" she asked, eyes still heavy with sleep.

"Early."

"Mm." She dropped her head back down, closed her eyes. "Don't wanna get up. You make a nice pillow."

And Zack—to his utter and complete astonishment—felt his cheeks heat.

Slow, so not to startle her or break the unexpected vulnerability she was showing, Zack feathered the back of his fingers over her shoulder. "Thank you," he murmured, quiet, sincere."For staying with me."

Dark lashes fluttered, lifted, and chocolate wine simmered for him. "You're not alone, Zack."

He nodded, kept his eyes on hers. "I know." His fingers brushed against her ear, moved to her jaw, his thumb skirting the edge of her bottom lip. "Neither are you." He touched his lips to each corner of her mouth, feather-light.

She exhaled his name. "Zack."

His heart clenched—answered back. The kiss was sweet; slow and purposeful. Her lips were soft, pliant and willing and it was so easy to get lost in her. So, so easy.

She gave a small, breathy sound, her fingers flexing and then shifting to clutch in his hair and he knew that she was lost too.

He angled his head, deepened the kiss, used light the caress of his tongue to entice her mouth open, and groaned when she allowed him entry. Tentative, she tangled herself in his kiss. She moved restlessly beside him and Zack rolled, pressing her beneath the warm, solid weight of his body.

He kept himself braced on his elbows, kept his mouth fused to hers, blanketed her with tenderness and desire.

And she responded.

His heartbeat skittered like a pebble on a pond and he felt the familiar soar of brightness in his soul that accompanied her.

But that wasn't enough.

Seduction—although extremely enjoyable—wasn't enough. He wanted more than her body.

He wanted her heart.

He eased back, skimmed lips over her cheeks, eyes. "I could really, really get used to waking up like this," he warned her, pressing an open mouthed kiss to her shoulder.

A loud boom followed by a crash from the other room jarred them apart and they both heard Barret shout something about bullets and scrawny Ninja ass followed by a yelp and another crash.

"We'd better go see what's going on," Tifa said, gently disengaging herself.

Zack gave a disgruntled huff as he let her roll from his arms, but the smile never left his face. She wasn't closed off, she hadn't shoved those walls between them. It was an unexpected thrill for him, and he appreciated the exposure she was giving.

He knew it wasn't easy for her.

Once on her feet, Tifa worked her hair back into a ponytail. Something fundamentally possessive stirred in his gut as Zack observed her through half-lidded eyes and hand propped behind his head.

There was a certain level of intimacy involved when watching another person grooming, and he wasn't above enjoying that either. He watched the play of her shoulder muscles as she lifted the thick dark mass and tamed it, and thought about how much grace and femininity were hidden behind power-house punches and bruised knuckles.

She was enticingly female. Her curves broadcast that, but she was also feminine, he realized with a quirk of brow.

She caught him staring. "What?"

"Just thinking."

"That explains the confused scowl."

"Hey!" He laughed up at her.

"Come on," she toed the mattress. "Get up. Barret probably has Yuffie terrified."

Zack yawned, rolled his eyes. "I'd be more inclined to bet that's the other way around."

Tifa slanted him a look from over her shoulder. "Just how do you know Yuffie?"

He'd been expecting that question since the woods. He sat up, rubbed a hand down his face and felt all his inner happiness waver beneath the shadows of his past. "I was on the front lines when Shin-Ra invaded Wutai," he explained with careful, succinct words. No need to tell her how many soldiers he'd beaten. No need to think about Angeal and his lessons. No need to think about the Kingdom he'd help suppress and the little Princess whose life he helped ruin.

Something must have shown on his face because the next moment Tifa was crouched in front of him, her hand on his shoulder and her gaze burning into his. "You can't go back. You can't undo. You can only learn, grow and move forward. The things you've done...you did because you had to. It was your job, and no matter what you may think, or say, I know that you are a good man, and I know you didn't do anything that went against what your heart told you to do."

Her words slipped past skin and ribs and pierced deep into his heart and in doing so, they bled out some of the dark weighing him down. He swallowed against the tightness in his throat. "How do you know?"

She tilted her head, her explanation simple. "That's just the kind of man you are."

"You..." his voice scratched, heart hitched, "make me want to be that kind of man." He leaned into her, cradled her face in his palms. "I could be that man for you."

"Zack," she brushed his hair back from his eyes, her own shimmering. "You already are."

More than a little dumbstruck by her impassioned words, Zack found himself fighting the urge to drag her back down to the bed and show her just exactly how well he could follow his heart.

She smiled at him.

He stopped fighting the urge.

His fingers closed on her wrist, and he gave a tug. He smirked at how her eyes widened when she toppled forward and then grinned when her lips parted—ever so slightly—in anticipation. Teasing, he avoided those tempting lips and his mouth tasted her throat, made her gasp.

Trumpet fanfare declared his feelings.

Wait...what?

Silence.

Okay, then...where was he...? Teeth skimmed along an earlobe.

Another wave of trumpet blares.

Zack lifted his head. "Did you hear that?"

Tifa also had her head cocked, listening. "Trumpets?"

"Man, I know I'm good, but trumpets?"

She rolled her eyes, pushed him back. "We should go see what all the commotion is."

Zack pushed to his feet, helped her to hers. "Yeah, yeah," he sighed. Figures.

He looked positively sullen, Tifa thought, hiding her expression from him. It was flattering, and flustering....and she was completely in over her head.

She'd realized that fact weeks ago, but last night, while she had sat in the shadows of her assigned room, worried and waiting for him while he went to deal with the grief of another person—a person he had no ties to, and no obligation toward—she came to realize that the feelings she held for Zack were far more complex than she'd acknowledged, and yet, simultaneously so simple she felt like an idiot.

Barret's words had filtered through her mind as she'd paced the floor, waiting. The conversation forced herself to answer some hard questions. Was she willing to take a chance for happiness? Could she risk her heart? Zack was worth it—of that she had no doubt—but was she? Did she deserve to be happy? After all that she'd done?

But more than that...could she make him happy? She didn't want to tarnish him—not with her pain, or his guilt. She could see it in his eyes when he looked at her—the guilt he carried over Cloud, whether he realized it or not—and it weighed heavy on her heart.

She didn't blame Zack. Couldn't blame him. He had tried to save Cloud, and although she was still unclear on all of the details, she knew that Zack had given everything he had. That's just who he was.

And he deserved someone that could give their all for him.

Could she?

She hadn't known the answer when the door opened and she heard heavy tread. She hadn't known the answer when she'd knocked against hardwood and inquired how he was. She hadn't known it even when he'd kissed her and asked her to stay.

But later, while deep asleep and dreaming, he had whispered her name and smiled. It was so vulnerable, so tender, and so happy that she knew then.

Yes.

Looking at him now, she smiled and was lightened in heart and step when he grinned right back.

Yes, she could.

They made it almost all the way down the hall before a beefy hand clamped on the back of Zack's neck and hauled him off the floor.

"I would be breakin' your scrawny ass in half if she wasn't in her altogether!" Barret shook him like a rag doll, hard enough to clatter teeth.

"Barret!" Tifa gasped, mortification and humor blending on her face. "Barret, put him down! Nothing happened!"

He shot her a narrow look. "I know that! You're a good girl."But he gave Zack another hard shake. For good measure. "And it better stay that way."

Dropped, unceremoniously to his feet, Zack rubbed the back of his neck and scowled up at Barret. "What the hell is your problem?" he asked, rolling his shoulders.

"You are!"

"I meant, earlier. We heard you bellowing."

Barret's face was a thundercloud of irritation. "That damn kid!" He pointed down the hall. "Caught her trying to rifle through the drawers in the kitchen."

Zack's eyes narrowed. That little shit. "I warned her." He strode into the other room, his expression a mirror of Barret's.

On the couch, feet curled beneath her and wearing a bright smile Yuffie waved. "What's up?"

"What did you take?" Zack demanded, eyes like slits.

"Huh?"

"What did you take?" he repeated, hauling her off the couch before searching the cushion beneath.

"Hey!" she squealed, indignant. "I didn't take anything! I was looking for something to eat and Happy-Smiley-Pants over there got all huffy!"

Tifa quirked a brow. "Happy-smiley-pants?"

Barret jabbed a blunt finger in her direction. "Don't," he warned.

She grinned. Too late. "Whatever you say, Happy. Where are the others?"

"Aerith and Red went outside to see what all the racket is about," Barret replied. "I'm going out too. Before I break something," he shot Yuffie a glare.

Zack finished his search of the couch, grabbed Yuffie by her shoulders, squared her in front of him. He wouldn't tolerate her stealing from them, or from the people that opened their doors for them. "What did you take?" he repeated.

Wide, shiny eyes blinked at him. "Nothing! Honest. I didn't." Her lip trembled, tears slipped. "Why won't you believe me?"

Zack instantly felt like an ass. He sighed, ruffled her hair. "Okay, sorry. I'm sorry."

Yuffie gave an exaggerated sniff, wiped her eyes. "Okay," she replied in a meek voice.

"You're hungry?" Zack questioned, latching onto what her reasoning had been. She nodded. "Okay, how about I go see about getting you some food."

"Okay." Another sniffle.

Tifa waited for both Barret and Zack to leave the room before she stepped up beside Yuffie and, still looking after the other two, held out her hand, "Hand it over."

Yuffie blinked at her, opened her mouth to protest. Tifa leveled her a look. Yuffie closed her mouth, her own eyes narrowing. "Fine."Grumbling, she dug into her pocket, pulled out a shimmering red amulet, pressed it into Tifa's palm. "You guys are no fun."

Tifa sighed, shook her head. "If you want to stay with us, I suggest I never catch you doing that again. We're going up against Shin-Ra. There will be plenty of people you can steal from that I won't bat a lash at, okay?"

Yuffie's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really."

"Deal!"

"Good. Let's go."

Outside, in the gray light of morning, the townspeople milled excitedly through the streets. Wind carried snippets of conversations to her ears and Tifa caught brief exchanges that all revolved around one thing: The new President of Shin-Ra was here.

"If Rufus is here, I gotta go pay my respects," Barret growled beside her.

"Yeah. He and I have some unfinished business," Zack concurred. His attention shifted and familiar warm light filled his eyes. He lifted his hand, waved.

Tifa followed his motion but knew who he was waving to before she spotted Aerith and Red walking towards them. The smile on his face was one reserved only ever for the other woman. It was a mixture of tenderness and familiarity.

Aerith replied in kind, waved back. She carried a small basket of bread and gave each of them a piece when she finally reached them.

"Good morning." She stood on tiptoes and placed a quick peck to Zack's cheek.

"Hey." He grinned, dimple showing. "Thanks." He lifted the bread, chewed.

"No problem." She angled her head, surveyed the streets. "Busy place all of the sudden."

"Yeah."

"So, does anyone have any idea on why the hell Rufus is here?" Barret asked. "Didn't he send those damn Turks after Sephiroth?"

"President Shinra is going to be getting a sending off reception," Aerith informed them. She shrugged dainty shoulders at their curious glances. "What? People like me. They talk."

Tifa chuckled. "You are deceptively sweet-looking," she commented.

Aerith's grin was sunbeam wide. "I know."

"So Shinra is here to cross the ocean?" Yuffie questioned.

"Yes. But does that mean Sephiroth already crossed?" Aerith tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I mean, why else would they be leaving? Right?"

"Chances are that whatever Shin-Ra is up to isn't good, so we should check it out, regardless," Barret answered.

Tifa had been thinking much the same thing. "I agree."

Red cocked his head. "So, how do we find him?"

"Chances are he's on base," Zack answered, swallowed the rest of his breakfast. "So we need to get through there." He pointed to the heavily guarded steel barricade that separated the town of Junon from the Junon Harbor Base.

"Oh, yeah, piece of cake," Yuffie rolled her eyes.

"No one said you had to come," Barret snapped.

"Too bad, I'm going. In fact, I'll get in all by myself. You just wait and see. The Great Ninja Yuffie will—"

"Hush." Red chided with a snort. "Must you chatter on so endlessly?"

Yuffie poked her tongue out at him, hands on her hips. "You hush, mongrel!"

"Mongrel?" Red's tail flickered, waved back and forth. "You dare!?"

"Oh, I dare!"

"Enough!" Barret's bark of an order had everyone jumping. "We ain't got time for your bullshit bickering, so shut up! We don't know how much time we have before President Douchebag leaves. We need to get onto that base."

"Wasn't there a large tower in the water?" Tifa speculated. It was hard to remember exactly what the beach had looked like—she had been so focused on getting to the little girl... she took a breath, pushed down the encroaching sadness. No, she meant what she'd said to Zack earlier. You can't go back, can't undo. Move forward.

"Yeah," Zack nodded, gaze speculative. "Probably an electrical tower of some kind."

"Which means it's probably coursing with high voltage," Barret added.

"Oh, well, then Zack should be okay," Aerith chirped. "He can climb it and check things out."

"Bwuah?" Zack sent her an incredulous look. "You heard him—high voltage."

"Yeah, but you'll be fine." She patted his arm, grinned.

"You are evil," he told her with affection. "I'm not dumb enough or desperate enough to swim in that water or climb that tower."

"The other option is the front gate," Tifa commented, still looking at the massive steel doors.

Barret cocked his brow, one corner of his mouth slanted in an anticipatory smirk. "Walk right in, huh?"

Red leather slid along smooth skin and her responding smile was laced with determination. "Walk right in."

Walking in—as it were—required some ass kicking, but was far easier than Zack would have imagined it to be. Between Barret's barrage of energy shots and his own attacks, the guards at the gate were defeated quickly, and the reinforcements dispatched fell just as readily beneath the sheer determination of the others.

Aerith and Yuffie managed to get inside the gate office and were busy hacking into the system while Red secured the door with fang and fury.

Zack watched with a sense of pride—and a sliver of worry—as Tifa danced between two soldiers, her fists and feet connecting with solid precision. She flicked her hair, tossed him a quick grin, and somersaulted over the back of another Shin-ra grunt before elbow dropping him to the ground.

Damn, she was sexy.

Skin coated with a sheen of sweat, muscles flexing and contracting, damp hair clinging to ruddy cheeks. Zack couldn't help but imagine another circumstance that would dishevel her in such a way.

He grunted when the butt of a rifle caught him in the temple. He shook his head, smirked at his own folly. He was way too easily distracted by those long legs of hers...

"Damn it, Tifa!" he shouted, rubbing his head with one hand and knocking the attacking guard out with the other.

Startled, she looked over at him. "What?"

"Stop looking so damn sexy!"

She slammed her heel down onto the back of a helmet. "What?!"

He shoved another trooper away, palm-punched him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. "You heard me!"

"Hell, Princess, we all heard you!" Barret slammed the metal of his arm beneath a jaw, sending the soldier careening wildly into four others. "Now quite watching Tifa and focus on getting your ass in there!" He pointed to the yawning steel in front of them.

Zack swung his gaze to the left where Yuffie and Aerith were emerging from the office. "You did it!"

"Of course we did!" Yuffie swatted his words. "Stupid. And stop hogging all the action!" She leaped into the fray, her peals of laughter causing Zack's own lips to arch up.

It had been a long time since he'd felt the heady rush of combat and enjoyed it. He remembered Aerith telling him—in what felt like a lifetime ago—that she was afraid of SOLDIERs because they loved fighting. He hadn't had a response for her then, and probably couldn't give her one now...not one that made any sense. He was at a loss in how to adequately explain the hum of blood and adrenaline beneath skin, the heavy pound of heartbeat and fire, the sense of achievement in pride when you stood the victor.

"Hey! Come on slow-poke!" Tifa darted past him, drawing him from his thoughts. Her eyes were alight with hidden fire and he knew suddenly that she would understand. It was as much a part of her as it was him. She was a fighter—a naturally gifted one at that.

He recalled, somewhere in the echoic confines of memories, Zangan speaking of her. He had claimed her to be his most talented student, and for a mentor renowned around the world, and even sought after by Shin-Ra for training, such a claim was impressive.

With a flash of white teeth, Zack crouched, focused his energy, and then launched himself off the ground in a blur of speed. He had the satisfaction of hearing Tifa shriek as her hands clutched his shoulders. His arm was secure around her waist, his stride never breaking. "Who are you calling slow?" he teased, slinging her over his shoulder.

"Zack! Put me down!"

He ignored her.

"Damn it, Zack! Zack! I mean it!"

"Are they, uh, always like that?" Yuffie asked trailing behind, jogging beside Barret.

"No."

"Oh."

Barret smiled. "But it's about damn time."

AN: Sooooo...yeah, another update. I got inspired. This chapter is a bit softer than the others, and as a good friend pointed out, they needed the emotional reprieve. (For now) I do hope you enjoy it, though! And thank you all for reading, especially for those of you that take the time to review. It truly does inspire! **happy grin**